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NAD M55 User Manual

Page 2

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LUXURIOUS DESIGN

The design brief reads: “The industrial design must create a

physical presence that is powerful, dynamic, and solid, yet

refined and elegant”. We wanted a design that will still look

fresh and new a decade from now, a design with classic

proportions and understated details.

Intelligent use of aluminum extrusions, zinc castings, and

heavy gauge steel results in a chassis that is as rugged as

it is handsome. Innovative use of specialized coatings and

plating results in a product that will retain its good looks for

many, many years to come.

Since the high-density data recorded on DVD must be read

with absolute accuracy, vibrations from outside or from

internal sources, such as the power supply, will adversely

affect sound and picture quality. A variety of special measures

have been incorporated in the NAD M55 to suppress these

unwanted vibrations, from the carefully engineered heavy

gauge steel chassis, to the vibration isolating silicon rubber

foot design.

AUDIO PERFORMANCE

Separate signal paths for the DVD and SACD audio maintain

the highest possible levels of DVD, CD and SACD sound

quality. Digital audio outputs are available in both coaxial,

and optical (TosLink) SPDIF formats, as well as digital format

via the HDMI output. DVD-Audio uses the Dolby licensed

MLP lossless compression to produce PCM formatted high

resolution signals with 24 bits and up to 192kHz sample

rates. MLP perfectly shrinks the very high data rates of DVD-

Audio – up to 13.8 Mbps – to the DVD limit of 9.6 Mbps

without losing any data. This compares with data rates of

approximately 1.5 Mbps for CD, and as little as 0.03 Mbps

for MP3 encoded audio.

Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic decoding is also included,

as is support for MP3 and Windows Media Audio. The NAD

M55 uses professional grade 24-bit, 192-kHz audio D/A

converters. These premium devices are well protected from

noise caused by even minute fluctuations in current from

the power supply. The level of quantization noise within

the frequency range is uniform for all frequencies and very

well suppressed. This D/A converter ensures that all the

sound you hear is as clear and noise-free as possible. High

speed FET output devices keep all the detail present in high

resolution SACD and DVD-Audio formats, perfectly intact.

Digital Bass Management is available for all surround sound

formats. This prevents bass frequencies from overloading

and distorting your speakers by ‘redirecting’ them to

your subwoofer which is specially designed to handle the

lowest octaves. When playing DVD-Video, DVD-Audio or

Super Audio CD sources, it is possible to preset speaker

configurations. The crossover point is selectable with 12 dB

high and 24 dB low pass filter slopes.

VIDEO PERFORMANCE

The M55 features a Dual Discrete Video Circuit (D.D.V.C.)

for the highest possible picture quality via the Component

Video output. An extremely high-speed video D/A converter

is a very critical component in generating a superior quality

video playback from DVD. The NAD M55, therefore, uses

the highest quality 10-bit, 27MHz individual video DACs for

Composite and S-Video from Cirrus Logic and 12-bit, 216MHz

individual video DACs from Analog Devices for Component

output. Independent video DACs allow simultaneous feed to

zone 2. These ensure highly accurate playback of delicate,

low-level video signals. This produces a vivid picture that

is faithful in every detail. Over sampling of 4x is achieved

for Progressive and 8x for interlaced video signals, allowing

more detailed D/A conversion. Higher quality picture

reproduction is also possible thanks to a filter with flexible

‘shutout characteristics’ that is used for the analog filter

in the latter stage. Furthermore, the NAD M55 uses two

separate video D/A converters to process Progressive and

Interlaced signals. This eliminates mutual interference

between the Progressive and Interlaced signals and allows

both an Standard Definition and a High Definition picture to

be output simultaneously – a great feature for sending video

to a second viewing zone (available on the M15 Preamp

Processor).

Progressive Scan features the DCDi processor by Faroudja.

Progressive Scan technology represents a vast improvement

over the interlaced scanning method used in normal TV

broadcasts and other conventional applications, as it can

process around twice as much video data to produce a

sharper, noise-free picture with finer details. Video images

are faithfully displayed with optimum naturalness and

beauty.

A wealth of picture quality adjustment functions, including

Contrast, Brightness, Hue, Sharpness, Black Level and

Gamma, can all be adjusted using the intuitive On Screen

menu.